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Artificial intelligence promises to transform primary care, guided by strong leadership, data security, and collaboration.  

Researchers conducted a retrospective study published in June 2025 in the issue of BMC Primary Care to synthesize evidence on the opportunities, challenges, and requirements of implementing artificial intelligence (AI) which reduce healthcare costs by enhancing diabetic retinopathy screening in primary health care (PHC) using the Primary Care Evaluation Tool (PCET).  

They followed the Cochrane Collaboration method to gather recent evidence on AI in PHC. A comprehensive search across 8 databases—PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct, Embase, CINAHL, IEEE, and Cochrane—was performed using Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and the Sample, Phenomenon of Interest, Design, Evaluation, and Research type, Frameworks (SPIDER) framework, covering studies published from 2000 to 2024 and 2 reviewers independently used inclusion and exclusion criteria guided by SPIDER to screen full texts and extract data. Extracted data on study characteristics, opportunities, challenges, and requirements were synthesized using thematic-framework analysis based on the PCET. Study quality was estimated by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal tools.  

The results showed that 109 articles were reviewed, mainly from North America (n = 49, 44%) and Europe (n = 36, 33%), using varied study designs. Based on the PCET, AI opportunities, challenges, and requirements were grouped under 4 major dimensions. The main opportunities for AI in PHC involve improving diagnostic accuracy, refining screening efforts, and predicting diseases early to enhance service delivery. Most challenges were linked to stewardship and resource generation, especially issues around data privacy, security, limited access, and technical reliability. Effective AI adoption depends on strong stewardship, investment in resources, and ongoing collaboration to support development and monitoring.  

Investigators concluded that successful integration of AI into PHC required coordinated efforts across stewardship, financing, and resource generation to support equitable and effective service delivery.  

Source: bmcprimcare.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12875-025-02785-2